Graduate program to help students, public sector

Sylvia Pennington

The talent demands of the public sector and the technology industry often fail to converge, but a new graduate program aims to bring the parties closer together.

Commencing in January 2013, an 18-month pilot in Queensland will employ 20 information technology graduates who will spend nine months working in the public sector and another nine months working in the private sector.

A new government-industry IT graduate program trial will begin in January. Photo: Glen Hunt GTH

The move comes on the heels of calls earlier this year from senior industry figures, including Westpac chief information officer Clive Whincup, for a boost in student participation.

Corporate cost-cutting and widespread off-shoring had created the erroneous impression that the technology sector offered a bleak career path for new starters, Whincup said.

Under the scheme, companies will select applicants whose skills and interests match the training and development they are able to provide and the government will run monthly workshops for all participants.

Graduates will remain on the government payroll while undertaking industry placements, with employers contributing to their salaries via a secondment fee.

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The program has received around 500 applications from ICT students Australia-wide, with successful candidates notified by November 16.

The scheme is the brainchild of Queensland's whole-of-government CIO, Peter Grant, who enlisted the help of the Australian Information Industries Association, the ICT industry's peak body, to recruit local companies.

Appointed last December by the Bligh government, Grant is a former University of Queensland academic and career public servant, who survived the high level purges of the incoming Newman LNP administration earlier this year.

The state has run an ad hoc graduate program of its own in the past but this is the first time it has invited private-sector involvement.

If successful, the scheme could be used as a blueprint by other states looking to establish similar programs, although the Australian Information Industry Association has no immediate plans.

Chair of the Queensland branch of the AIIA, Maree Adshead, said many of the industry participants were small- and medium-sized companies that did not have the resources to run structured graduate programs of their own.

"When it came to getting participants on board, the local industry was very receptive."

Systems integrator TLC IT Solutions, where Adshead is general manager, is among the first employers on the scheme.

While some companies may look to retain their graduates at the conclusion of the program, Adshead said there would also be long-term benefits for suppliers if their young workers took on roles within the public sector.

"The great thing is we have some champions and ambassadors for us in the Queensland government," she said.

Industry programs manager at the Queensland Cyber Infrastructure Foundation, Franz Eilert, said the program offered benefits to all participants.

A cloud computing research company owned by the University of Queensland, the foundation has a staff of 30 and plans to take a graduate worker.

"Part of the strategic intent is to build technical skills in Queensland over large data," Eilert said.

"It's not just a cheap resource - it's about building capability in research areas. It's also about relationship building and bringing new ideas and ways of doing things to the government - governments are generally quite risk averse."

While graduates were unlikely to find themselves in positions of influence for several years, Eilert said new ideas could "bubble up the organisation".